Danaher to Acquire Leica Microsystems

In an agreement that will complement and expand the company's line of products, Danaher Corp. (Washington, DC, USA) has agreed to acquire Leica Microsystems AG (Wetzlar, Germany) for about U.S.$540 million, including assumed debt, pension liabilities, transaction costs, and net of cash acquired.

Leica Microsystems is a leading global designer and producer of innovative high-tech precision optical systems for the analysis of microstructures. The company is a market leader in microscopy, pathology diagnostics, surgical microscopes, and semiconductor equipment. The company offers system solutions in certain areas of the life sciences, including biotechnology and medicine. Leica Microsystems is represented in more than 100 countries and has 10 manufacturing facilities in six countries.

"This transaction makes strong strategic and financial sense for both companies,” observed H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., president and CEO of Danaher. "Leica Microsystems' technology in high-precision optical instrumentation and its well-known brand will extend Danaher's professional instrumentation segment into the life sciences while complementing our existing critical care diagnostics and dental businesses.”

"We are very pleased to be announcing this partnership with Danaher,” commented Dr. Wolf-Otto Reuter, CEO of Leica Microsystems. "They are a long-term strategic investor with global resources that truly understand our engineering heritage and are committed to our future growth.”





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